According to the website Carpe TDM, these things suffer from wear in the carbs that causes the richness problem. I had been wary that mine might have it, so I had my suspicions. I got some parts and last Saturday morning, donned my neatly washed and ironed with sharp creases overalls. Striding purposefully across the garage, spanner in hand I removed the fairing, tank and seat. There nestled neatly between the frame rails were ..... a birdsnest of tubes. Reminded me of opening a can of spaghetti. OK. Be methodic. Make sure you mark everything so you can stick it all back together again.
Must be time for a coffee. Diversion has always been a character flaw of mine when confronted with anything even a little bit difficult.
This is a "what the hell is that" moment.
Because I had nice clean overalls on, I was allowed in to sit at my computer when normally I have to take it all off. Grease spots on the stairway carpet is a bit of a no-no in our house and guaranteed to cause the onset of Force 9 grumpiness among certain inhabitants.
www.carpetdm.com..... “err, where are the fastenings?” I typed. “Has anyone actually taken Mk2 carbs off...... how do you do it?”
There is an unnerving silence on carpetdm.com, the exceedingly rare internet equivalent of hearing a pin drop. I am starting to get a feeling about this. A nervous feeling.
The best I can get is from the TDM maestro, “Studley Ramrod” (I kid you not) is “well, the Mk 1 is much easier.”
Geoff Green arrives. We have a cup of tea and we both poke around using screwdrivers, allen keys, and glasses with thick lenses while holding a Maglite torch in our teeth. There is a lot happening between those frame rails.
There is the sound of a penny dropping.
I am a reasonable basic mechanic. But the most important thing among my repertoire of spannering skills is when to drop the screwdriver, put everything back together while you can, and so you can start the machine in order to ride it to the local dealership.
Because there is nothing more soul destroying than turning up with part of a bike on a trailer, the rest of it in the boot of the car, and a plastic ice cream container full of screws, nuts, bolts, hoses and clips. The dealer will for sure have a look on his face that says... this person is going to make contribution to my Ferrari F40 savings fund.
I conceded defeat. I buttoned up the TDM and on Thursday I rode it to the dealership. It was a stunning day, and as I waited for Lins to pick me up on her way home from work, I leaned against the bike and basked in the warm late afternoon sun and talked bike talk with the owner and a mechanic and someone who was unloading a dead KTM motocrosser from his flatbed. The sun warmed my outside, and my insides were warmed by the dealer’s “Ferrari Fund” look being directed at the person dropping off an orange European-built race bike.
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